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On June 18, 1908, after 52 days sailing across the Pacific, the ship Kasato Maru docked at the port of Santos, bringing 781 Japanese who had departed from Kobe. The event marked the beginning of Japanese immigration to Brazil, a flow that would grow throughout the century and would make the country home to the largest Japanese community outside Japan, especially in the state of São Paulo. The Ribeira Valley, located in the south of the state, is one of the cradles of Japanese colonization in Brazil, concentrating important landscape and architectural heritage that dates back to the beginning of this occupation, in the first decades of the 20th century, which led to the construction of a unique cultural identity over the years. Seeking new opportunities and better living conditions, the Japanese brought with them agricultural techniques and a cultural background that impacted the region.